


some girls don't need dreams

by rankarana



Category: Zombieland Saga (Anime)
Genre: F/F, and after ai broke out the bow and got Cool..., set after the mountain trip in ep 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 15:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16956807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rankarana/pseuds/rankarana
Summary: Saki... might have some kind of addiction to playing chicken. First it was that freakin' cliff, and then it was that cliffagain, and now?Now it's trying to touch Ai's muscles.(But first she and Sakura gotta figure out if, uh, Ai actually has muscles.)





	some girls don't need dreams

**Author's Note:**

> thanks@god for emo idol hunter killer and her strong(?) bow-crafting(?) arms
> 
>  

“Y’know Ai?”

“Uhm. Yes.”

Well, duh, of _course_ Sakura knows Ai, they’re bandmates-- friends? Yeah, friends, sure. But Saki’s got an angle here, and it’s kind of a sensitive one, one she can’t just throw out there. Matter of pride, you could call it.

“Whatcha think about her?”

Sakura’s eyein’ her with a non-zero amount of confusion at this point. She knows that Saki’s not one for mindgames (at least, Saki _hopes_ she does, it’d be pretty wack if she didn’t), but maybe the weirdly evasive question’s given her a reason to start overthinking it?

...maybe Saki’s the one overthinking it. Crap, that ain’t right. Nothin’ good comes of her thinking too hard.

“She’s, um, cool? And a good singer. And really reliable!” Sakura lists off good traits one after another, and Saki nods along, because they’re all true, but she’s missing something. The _important_ bit. “Why…?”

“Ya think she’s ripped?”

...Sakura purses her lips, doin’ a pretty freakin’ impressive impersonation of a duck, trying to avoid Saki’s gaze for a good few seconds before coming out with a real non-committal “...maaaaybe?”

“I mean, she should be fit, right? Logically. She was an idol, so her _job_ was stayin’ in shape and throwin’ herself around on stage, unless, like… the zombie shit, that necro… neco… necky…”

“Necrosis?”

“Yeah, that! Damn, Sakura, ya look like a bimbo, but yer good with words.” Hell, she gets a pat on the shoulder for that! Good on ya, Sakura, remembering words like necroli… thingy. “So, yeah, unless Koutarou’s zombie juice rotted her down-- okay, look, I ain’t explaining myself well here.” The look of sheer freakin’ _pity_ she gets back from Sakura there affirms her statement, but not in the way she wanted.  “Ugh, y’know when we were campin’, and she got that bow, and stuff? Takes more strength than you’d think to actually fire one of those shits. You gotta have good shoulders, _and_ good biceps, _and_ be slick with the wrist.”

“Have you used a bow before?” Now Sakura’s eyeing up _her_ arms, trying to figure out their shape under the baggy jacket, and Saki feels self-concious; ‘cause, look, crackin’ someone’s head with a pipe is more a matter of technique than raw strength.

(Besides, they don’t have weights here, and when she’d asked Koutarou about it, he’d screamed at her to think about carrying the weight of her sins first, and then handed her a tub of protein powder that was actually filled with sawdust. She’d settled for doing curls with a rolled-up futon instead.)

“Uh, yeah. It was a pretty rough night, lemme tell ya. Imari’s a wild place, girls there’re tough as the porcelain.”

“Porcelain’s not very tough, though.”

“You wanna die?”

...again, Sakura looks kind of sad, but in a different way. Saki ain’t quite able to read it.

“...actually, I was going to say, I’ve never seen her muscles, but she’s always covered up, isn’t she?”

“She is? Ain’t she wearin’ T-shirts like the rest of us-- oooh.”

“The bandages!”

“Yeah. The bandages. Shit, makes sense that I couldn’t just see the goods for myself… Yer a genius, Sakura. Guess you ain’t decompa… deco-- rotted as much as the rest of us!” An’ that means another pat on the shoulder, until Sakura’s body suddenly feels a tiny lil’ bit _too_ soft and Saki realises if she pushes down any more, somethin’ might pop off. At least Sakura looks happy, though!

“Are you into that?”

“U-uh. What?”

“Ai being buff.”

“Welllll, uh.” Shit. This is a freakin’ interrogation, now. Where’s her katsudon? “I mean, like… it’d be cool? I respect a sister in arms.” Slowly, Saki relaxes that grip on Sakura’s shoulder, like she’s trying to distance herself from the literal metta-forri-cal cop in the room.

“In buff arms!” She’s _really_ holding onto this point, which is real unfair, what the hell has she said to make Sakura think this is a _thing_ for her, Reiko’s arms weren’t _that_ strong and she didn’t hold her _that_ tight when they laid on the riverbank underneath the million stars in the sky--

“Don’t matter to me if a girl has arms or not. ‘s like tits. I’m, uh… more focused on the personality. An’ a cute face.” But, look. It don’t _hurt._

“Hehehe… Saki, you really _do_ like ‘em.” Phew. _Them_. Not _her._ ‘Cause if anyone figured out she was gay as shit for Ai, that’d be freakin’ gay. “Hey, you actually _did_ think this through, right? You didn’t just ask me if she has muscles without thinking for maybe two seconds about the practical bit--”

Aww. Sakura **does** wanna die; and with a quick arm round her neck, and her bony-ass knuckles right into the noogie position, Saki’s more than happy to give her that good ol’ Saga-style decapitation through intense aggressive hair-rufflin’ for her efforts.

* * *

Once Sakura’s noggin was back on her body all proper-like, and they tried to figure out whether Ai got her makeup applied _over_ her bandages or not (Saki reasoned it was how she got hers done, even if that was partially ‘cause if Koutarou got even a lil’ bit funny with the touching he’d end up with precisely one less ballsack), Saki reasoned it was time to figure out a plan of attack, just like in her Dorami days.

Which meant the plan went:

  1. Find Ai
  2. Make sure that Tae, Lily or probably Junko wasn’t around (Yugiri wouldn’t do anything except make some weird comment about the many uses of detachable arms in the background, so she was safe)
  3. Ask to feel her arm
  4. If she says no, try to anyway



Simple, to the point, gets the job done and the girls fed, ‘cept the only girl getting fed here was her, and her deep-set need to arm-wrestle Ai. Other wrestlin’ too, maybe. All Saki knows is that she ain’t the kind of woman who just stands her ground - she gets out there and freakin’ does it.

Thanks to Ai’s insane work ethic, it doesn’t take long to find her all on her own in the practice room at 10 in the evening, tank-top hanging off her shoulders as she’s spinning in circles, waving those strong, gift-wrapped arms around--

 _Holy shit, me. They ain’t gonna be_ **_that_ ** _good._

Still, Saki opens the door with a kind of seriously not-herself level of grace, stomping in on her tiptoes and giving Ai a little nod, earning a half-second look before the other girl keeps on going. It’s almost an invitation to join in, but for now, Saki just watches. Sure, she’s a meathead, but she ain’t _stupid._ This is when you observe your target, make sure you got ‘em right where you want ‘em, and then move in and strike…

Though she kind of just, uh, ends up watching Ai for a bit. The girl can move, when she’s not paralysed by some seriously screwed up PTSD. Saki’s like, never really gone in for the idol thing on a personal investment level before, but like this? Yeah, she gets it.

(Plus, technically Ai’s representing for Saga, which makes her more _real_ than any other idol out there.)

When Ai turns back to her, Saki wakes from her little bit of media-consumption self-searching, Ai skipping over the outro of the song to confront her audience instead. She’s cocking her head, lips twisted into a wry frown visible either because whoever did her bandages was incredibly good at cutting a mouth-hole for her, or Ai bit through it herself.

(Saki’s expectin’ the former, but kinda wants it to be the latter.)

“Not like you to just stand there and watch.”

“You were doin’ yer thing. Didn’t wanna trip you up.”

“You’re not that bad at dancing,” Ai tells her, jerking her head in the other direction. She’s trying to get Saki to throw her a towel, a cue it takes Saki what feels like a few moments too long to react to.

“Hell no I ain’t,” and she tosses it right over to Ai, hitting her square in the face, hanging over her head in a way that makes her look like she’s ready for her autopsy. Which she _is,_ in a way, so. “...yer face looked pretty sweaty.”

“It was,” comes the muffled voice from under the towel. It’s not enough to throw her off her game, though, since she’s already scrubbing herself down, clammy sweat off equally clammy skin. It’d be gross (and honestly, it still kinda _is_ ) but Saki’s used to it by now, same with their smell. Hell, by the time Ai throws it back, the towel feels almost warm. “Thanks.”

She’s actually smilin’, too. Again, it’s kinda thin and with that _edge_ to it, but that’s just how Ai looks. It’s even kind of how she looked when they were curled up in the rain, her clinging onto Saki like her past was gonna catch up with her and incinerate her everything.

“Heh.” Between the gratitude, and the sight of a sweaty, slightly tired Ai, Saki’s combat instincts tells her _this_ is the time to strike - and so she strides forwards, hands shoved deep into her pockets, and with a grin that’s meant to intimidate. Or get her _hot_. Maybe both?

...what it seems to do is get Ai to immediately raise a thin eyebrow, and along with it half the wrappings covering her head.

“Ai. Stick out yer arm.”

“...if you wanna see how much force it takes to separate a woman’s arm from her body, go find Tae.”

The arm’s not comin’ up.

“Naaah, that ain’t what I’m here for right now.” She’s seen Ai fall apart both emotionally _and_ literally, there’s nothin’ new in it for her any more. “Seriously, this ain’t a trick! Just do it.”

“Sure, but you’ve got some kind of agenda.” Now Ai actually _does_ lift her arm, but only so she can rub at the back of her neck. “Or, I mean, if you’re worried about me, then, uh, don’t be, because you really don’t have to--”

Saki doesn’t wait for her to finish her sentence, though - she’s quick on the draw, and grabs _right_ at Ai’s wrist, yanking it down while Ai pulls back; ‘cept she knows if she pulls too hard it’ll pop right off, so instead she just stands there, glaring at Saki, caught in their lil’ cold-bodied war.

“Look, it ain’t like, anythin’ bad. I don’t do my friends like that. It’s just, uh…” She doesn’t wanna call it embarrassin’, ‘cause that’s embarrassin’ in its own way. “If I said it straight, you’d just laugh at me?” Her grin fades to a bit of a grimace, unsure of how to progress - maybe she just gotta be honest?

“Oh, wow, Saki. What you’re doing now is a much better way to do it, you’re right.” Ai relaxes some, puts her arm a little more into Saki’s care, like-- like she _believes_ Saki, maybe.

“Yeah, okay, fair. But, hear me out here.” She takes a deep breath, slides one of her hands a little further up Ai’s bandaged skin, and the side-eye she’s gettin’ grows even stronger. “I wanna feel your, uh, arms. Biceps, in particular.” The words come out easy when she actually says ‘em, it turns out.

...and for her part, Ai just seems amused, mouth going from a frown, to pursed confusion, to something that seems like (holy shit) a _grin_ , and then back down to a faintly amused smile.

“...why?” Saki starts to reply, but before she can get the words out, Ai cuts her off. “That’s not no, by the way.”

Anyone else would read this as a chance to play coy, take careful note of Ai - freakin’ Mizuno Ai, the most stone-cold asshole out of all the zombies she knows - giving her total free reign to feel her up, but Saki...

“See, ‘cause, when we were on the mountain, and you went all Ainu hunter on the wildlife’s butt, that was real badass? And uh, you pulled that bow like nobody’s business, like you were _used_ to it. So it kinda got me wonderin’, I guess? Like in another time, or another life, you’d’ve been like me an’ my girls.”

...Saki kinda just, tells her everything.

“So, yeah. Got me thinkin’, and the thought wouldn’t leave my head, and now we’re here.” Ai hasn’t pushed her off, or even objected - she’s just been listenin’ with the exact same expression the whole time.

“Go for it. You’re gonna be disappointed, but still.” Her arm’s getting slacker and slacker - okay, don’t get _too_ floppy, Saki urges, she wants _somethin’_ to feel - and she’s edging in a bit closer, making it easier for Saki to reach up, press down on her upper arm, and--

“Ooooh.” Ai’s hardly, like some steroid-chuggin’ bodybuilder, but there’s something there, the kind of strength you’ve either got to build up on purpose or do some real physical work to get to. Saki doesn’t know Ai’s life before this well enough to say, but, yeah. Pretty cool.

Kinda weak of their makeup bitch to contour the makeup so that don’t stand out, but whatever.

“Nice. You could do some real damage with these, if ya wanted…” Despite everything, she’s tryin’ to be a lil’ bit gentle with the arm. Ya never know, with these bodies of theirs. “You ever got into a real fight? Seriously, I feel you’d fit right in.”

“…you’re hitting on me, right?”

“Uhmgm,” Saki replies, in a pretty decent impersonation of Tae. Honest to god, Ai, that was _not_ her original intention. Really. Cross her heart, hope to die.

…that being said.

“An’ if I were?” She tops it off with a playful toothy grin, just to cover her ass if she’s really misreading this whole thing, but hey. Ai’s _still_ not said no, this entire time, and Saki ain’t felt up that many girls’ muscles like this without kissing them after; in all honestly, the kiss is normally the _first_ thing.

“Who knows.”

Drawing on the one singular subtle bone in her body, Saki just lets the sentiment lie a lil’, marinate in the atmosphere they’ve got goin’. Their emotions’ve been all over the place these last couple months, so it ain’t fair to read this as anything _too_ deep. Just play it cool, live in the moment.

“Wonder what yer arm is like under there?” Now _that’s_ smooth.

“Do you want to see? Look, it’s covered for a reason.” Ai’s bandaged hand (the one attached to the equally bandaged arm that isn’t currently getting fondled by Saki) lifts up to touch at her, yep, bandaged face, fingers tapping at the edge of the wrappings and pushing them down ever so slightly, and-- shit, it already looks _bad_. “I can show you, if you’ve actually got like, a thing for charred flesh.”

...does she? Saki kinda wonders if she does, like, just a lil’ bit.

“Yeah, but see… I like my girls like I like my chicken. _Crispy.”_ She smirks, too, lets Ai _really_ know she’s into it. (Well, she might not be actually into it, but like, theoretically. It don’t bother her.)

“...oh my god.” Her hand slides over from playing with the bandage to covering her mouth, eyes wide open in… shock, for sure, but maybe kinda _amused_ shock. “I guessed you have a thing for danger, but I didn’t know it went like.. that.”

“Well, I mean, uh, gotta make the best of it? ‘sides, I ain’t much different. Like… less char-grilled and more slow-roasted, but it’s still kinda grody under there.” She raises her equally well-wrapped arm, wondering if she should show it off some too - but decides against it, ‘least for now.

“Attractive!”

“Haha, right? You manage to pull it off pretty good, tho’.”

She feels Ai tug against her now, and she does what she’s told, like a well-trained wolf – lets go, Ai’s arm swinging down with a weirdly sickening lack of weight, her shoulders shifting and popping some before she’s back to full arm functionality.

“Same goes for you,” she murmurs, the deeper edge her voice takes on when she sings leakin’ out a bit; and then the hand that _had_ been guarding her mouth, maybe to hide that smile that she didn’t want to totally fess up to, slides down, brushing the edge of the bandage to reveal just _how_ much is covered under there.

Saki ain’t focusing on that, though. ‘specially when Ai’s tracing along the scar on her cheek, before pulling her hand back as quickly as it came. “Kinda disappointing _that_ gets covered up.”

“…that’s fucked up, Ai.”

“Yeah? Like you haven’t thought the same thing.” The little knife-glint normally hidden in Ai’s smile’s gone into her eyes too, now, and Saki isn’t sure what that’s even askin’ for. Pinning her to the wall? An arm-wrestle? An out and out _fight?_

‘Cause she’s down, if Ai’s down.

“Heh. Guess this won’t be the last I hear of this, huh?” She takes another confident step, but this one’s back towards the door. No need to rush _too_ far ahead this time, after all - even if she’s sure she hears Ai snortin’ all quiet and low in response. “See ya around, Ai. Maybe sooner than you think…”

“Yeah. See you.” She cracks an obvious smirk, before her expression disappears into the bundle of bandages, turning her own head away. Neither of ‘em wants to make this too easy, huh?

 _Alright_ , thinks Saki. _Bring it the hell on._

* * *

 

After trying to cooly walk away from the scene of the prelude to upcoming carnage (and by carnage, she means neckin’ with an idol, and damn she _wants_ to be into idols now just to fully enjoy that experience!), hearing the music start up again and Ai getting right back to her tireless craft, Saki breaks into a run.

 _Hooooly shit_.

There’s a lot to process, between the feel of Ai’s arm, and the touch of her hand, and that look that meant… well, it meant a whole load of things, but it meant _only one thing_ in a real specific sense; and she has to brake hardcore when she gets to their bedroom, Sakura hushing her so she doesn’t disturb an already fast asleep Lily and Junko, before beckoning her over with an excited wave.

“Saaakura.” Saki almost trips over her own futon - still bundled up from the attempt at weight training earlier - and unrolls it into the sloppiest bed possible, before shuffling her way into it with a smirk.

“How did it go!?”

“She got guns! Like, lil’ ones, but they’re there. Under the bandage. Definitely could pack a punch.”

“So you… touched them?” Sakura looks like almost wants to clap, before holding herself back for the sake of the others sleeping. (Also to not disturb the Tae.)

“Got a reaaaal good feel. Turns out she’s into the scar, too, which is like…”

“Well, it _is_ a bit sexy. A bit!”

“Shit. Should I play up the scar more? Y’all seem to be real into it.” Damn, what if Reiko had seen it? Actually, Reiko probably would have been more traumatised, so, maybe not. “Point is, I know how to do this. I’m gonna issue her a letter of challenge, sneak it into her bed, and then the next time we meet’ll be under the stars, havin’ snuck out, and then… heheh… I’ll let ya just simmer on that for a bit.”

Sakura definitely looks simmerin’, face bright red, nodding at each of Saki’s words, and damn. She feels like a winner, right now, planning out her next moves then resting easy for tonight--

“The thing is… you know where she sleeps, right?”

“Yeah?”

The festering cogs in Saki’s head turn some, clickin’ into place far too slow, and she buries her head in her knees. What’s she gonna do? Pretend to be asleep? Crawl into the futon and start dry-humpin’ her? Run away?

“Yeah.” 

“Yeah…” A hand comes out to pat her head, and she doesn’t even fight it; she just throws the covers over her head instead in the world’s most performative display of pretending to sleep. God, if Sakura pities her one more freakin’ time--

“Fuuuuck. **I** wanna die.”

“Well, that’s one dream you’ve already achieved!”

“Eat shit, Minamoto.”

**Author's Note:**

> aisaki good... sakusaki good... ALL saki ships good.......... but Ai x Saki has strong 'emo idol accidently stomps on saki's converse with her docs energy at a mosh pit at fuji rock' energy y'know. anyway i wanted to capture some of that, maybe?? i hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> (also the song title is a reference to iconic biker girl j-rock song yumemiru shoujo ja irarenai by nanase aikawa. good ass track)


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